‘I’ll find somewhere,’ she said in reply to Brian’s question. ‘Don’t worry about me. To be honest Brian, as odd as it sounds, I think this thing with Neil was exactly what I needed. I’ve been feeling out of sorts for a while now. A friend of mine passed away recently, a good friend. And do you know what? Ever since, I’ve been feeling like I’ve just allowed my life to pass by. A break is exactly what I need. Thank you so much.’ She rose from the chair and nodded at Brian who smiled up at her.
‘Not a problem, Laurie.’
***
‘Laurie, come on. This is ridiculous! Where are you going to go? You have nowhere to stay other than here!’
Laurie rolled her eyes as she continued packing up her things, Neil trailing around after her like the pathetic fool he was.
‘That’s where you’re wrong. I’ll find somewhere to go, don’t you worry about that. I refuse to stay here with you for a single day longer. I can’t even look at you, never mind sleep beneath the same roof.’
‘Laurie, please!’ Neil attempted to take her hands but she pulled away and turned her back to him instead. ‘Don’t you think you’re taking this completely out of proportion?’ he continued in a softer voice. He stepped up behind her so that his chest was mere inches from her back.
Laurie stilled at the closeness. ‘Excuse me?’ Her voice was quiet, silently seething as she delivered each word with sharp-as-a-blade precision. ‘Out of proportion?’ she asked incredulously. ‘Is that what you think? That, even though I found you in our bed with another woman, I’m making too much of a scene?’ She shook her head, pinned him with a disgusted narrowing of the eyes. ‘You’re vile, Neil. Absolutely vile.’ She shoved the last item of clothing from her wardrobe into the bag and zipped it up with a fierce finality. ‘Me and you? We were never going to work out anyway, were we? I thought I was happy with you, but beneath all of your charm and faux sincerity, you’re just a pathetic man who has no idea how a relationship works. I guess you just managed to pull the wool over my eyes pretty spectacularly. More fool me. Presents and gifts are nice, Neil, but it doesn’t all boil down to that. There’s trust and commitment and honesty. I couldn’t trust you ever again even if I wanted to, which I don’t by the way. And anyway, you can call your new girlfriend over. She can keep you company, right? Seeing as you have such a fabulous time together.’ Laurie grabbed her things, hoisted a bag onto each shoulder and hurried towards the door, hobbling slightly beneath the weight. Not exactly the determined stride she’d been hoping for but oh well. Just as she was about to step through the doorway, she glanced over her shoulder and fixed a panic-stricken Neil with a cold, hard stare. ‘Rather her than me.’ And with that, she left.
With her things in the boot, Laurie reversed out of the parking bay and edged out of the private car park, glancing left and right to ensure she didn’t cause any accidents. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She probably shouldn’t have even been at the wheel feeling the way she did, but with a few deep breaths, a couple of seconds of closed eyes and a moment of grounding herself in the here and now rather than suddenly panicking about the future, she eased out into the lane and set off. A cheap hotel room for two nights was what she needed, and it didn’t take her long at all to turn into a nearby hotel and switch off the engine. She paid for two nights, breakfast included, then stepped into the elevator with her belongings. The doors slid shut as the first tear rolled down her cheek. Not a tear for Neil nor for their broken relationship, but a tear for herself and the life she’d ended up living. Still, there was no time like the present to make a change. If Rosa’s death had taught her anything, it was that time was of the essence.
With Dolly’s Diner’s sixty-third anniversary coming up, Mia was busy trying to figure out how best to celebrate it. She couldn’t believe that the diner was nearly sixty-three years old for starters; it was crazy to think that it had been standing in place for such a long time. It had undergone a couple of refurbishments but Mia had ensured it hadn’t changed too much from its original layout and design. That was what people loved most about the place. Being in the diner felt like she and the customers had stepped back in time thanks to Grandma Dolly’s vision and keen eye for detail. Everywhere you looked there was something there to remind you that you were in a place like no other. The music that the jukebox played only added to the atmosphere and Mia couldn’t imagine herself working anywhere else.
Her protectiveness of the place had been cemented in her from a young age, and still firmly remained now. It stemmed from Grandma Dolly’s love for it, as well as her own. The diner was also the only thing which Mia had managed to succeed with in her life. She’d never seen the attraction of heading off to university. It would have been lovely, of course, to have all of those achievements under her belt but she’d never been academically ambitious. This was due to the fact that she’d done absolutely rubbish in school. The only thing she’d ever been remotely good at was maths, but never good enough to have wanted to make something out of it. The diner was something she’d watched grow and flourish, something which she’d felt a part of since the very first day she’d stepped inside. If other people had certificates and A-levels, then Mia had Dolly’s Diner. If they could be proud of their achievements academically, then she looked on the diner as if it were a certificate all of its own, framed and hung proudly on the wall. It was, she supposed, the only thing she’d ever done, ever been a part of, that she could truly be proud of.
Despite the refurbishments, the diner still had the fabulous booths with the slightly cracked, vinyl seating. The candyfloss-pink stools that were lined up against the serving counter had been updated a few years back but were almost identical to the previous set, again with the vinyl seating atop which made for very comfy seating while scoffing one of the many ice-cream sundaes on the diner’s menu. On each table, a laminated menu stood upright in a red, plastic holder, offering American-style delights from stacked pancakes to eggs sunny-side-up with streaks of crispy bacon and deliciously crisp onion rings. If any of the customers ordered one of the many burgers on offer with a side of fries, the fries would arrive in a basket with a red and white napkin beneath, just like they used to do back in the day. Behind the serving counter, framed vintage, black and white images hung, one of them a photograph of Grandma Dolly, back in her younger days. In the image, she’d been standing outside of the diner with a serving tray in one hand and her other propped cheekily on her hip. Mia loved that photo more than any of the others. Grandma Dolly had been beautiful back then, had been in her later years, too, but in her younger years she’d looked stunning, with bouncy blonde hair and a figure to die for. In the photograph, she wore a gorgeous, halter-neck, floral-printed dress, nipped in at the waist, giving her a perfectly proportioned hour-glass figure. No wonder Grandpa Robert had wanted her from the minute he’d set eyes on her. Mia could bet every man who had ever met Grandma Dolly had fallen a little bit in love with her. It would have been impossible not to.
Grandma Dolly had died three years previously and it gutted Mia that she would no longer be around to help celebrate the anniversaries of the diner she had loved so much, but the photograph behind the counter made her feel that perhaps Grandma Dolly was looking out from within it, keeping an eye on the comings and goings, on all of the happenings in the diner, ensuring everything was running smoothly in the same way it always had. Mia hoped she was doing a good job, hoped that if Grandma Dolly was looking down that she’d be proud of her and how far she and the diner had come.
During the reading of Grandma Dolly’s will, Mia had been overcome with emotion despite already knowing the words that were about to be spoken. When she heard her name being read out, quickly followed by the words ‘Dolly’s Diner’, she’d sent a silent prayer of thanks up to Grandma Dolly. It had been handed over to her, as well as Honeysuckle Cottage. Mia, by that point, had already been living in the cottage alongside Grandma Dolly, having moved in to help her in old age. They’d spent many warm, balmy summer evenings sitting out in the back garden, talking, laughing and reminiscing about days gone by. The beach was visible from the garden and provided a glorious view. Mia would keep those memories tight within her heart.
‘You